From Day 02 to today the wind was unrelenting and seemed to get stronger as the night wore on. Having had very little, if any, sleep, Kerena and I agreed at 3 o’clock in the morning that we would forgo a further sleepless night of forecasted high winds at Arthur River in preference to heading to Queestown, our next planned stop.
So, at first light (04:30) we got out of bed, packed up, stopped at the local free barbeque and cooked up a bacon and egg breakfast (well, it was Sunday after all) and on our way by 07:30.
Our route took us down the C249, a most picturesque, interesting gravel road to Corinna. The journey was necessarily slow due to the road surface and the many twist, turns, inclines and declines – at times we felt as if we were on the top of the world. On the way there was a very helpful sign at Donaldson River directing us to the nearest toilet – 28 km away – a long way to cross your legs!
At Corrina we had to cross the Pieman River by cable ferry – many thanks to Paddy (not to mention his twin brother), the local ferryman who transported us safely from one side of the river to the other.
When we reached Zeehan, it was decision time in terms of where to spend the night. It was tempting to head directly to Queenstown and an extra night in the hotel we had booked, the attraction being a shower. However, on consulting our camp books we decided to head for Macquarie Head Campsite at Strahan where I am, now sitting at 16:30 preparing this post. Unfortunately, there is no internet access, hence the delay in sending it.
Although there is a bit of a wind, we managed to find a very sheltered spot to pitch the tent and having done so, we are planning a very relaxed stay here and hopefully a good night’s sleep.
As a postscript to last night at Arthur River (for the photographers), we managed to catch a good sunset, but the wind was so strong that the camera was vibrating on the tripod, hence a fast shutter speed was called for. I did get up in the middle of the night – the stars were out, but the wind was so strong that I would not have been able to get a shot of the stars.
